Top 10 most costly disasters in 2021
The British organization Christian Aid has published a study on the ten most costly natural disasters in 2021. These weather events generated damages totaling more than 170 billion USD, which represents a 13% increase compared to 2020.
In this report, the majority of the estimates are based on insured losses, which means that the actual costs are much higher. The 2021 ranking has mainly focused on disasters occurring in rich countries with more developed and better insured infrastructures.
Top 10 most costly climate disasters in 2021
In billions USD| Date | Nature of the event | Country | Cost of the losses |
|---|---|---|---|
| From 28 August to 2 September | Hurricane Ida | United States | 65 |
| From 12 to 18 July | Floods | Germany Belgium France Netherlands Luxembourg | 43 |
| From 2 to 20 February | Winter storm Uri | United States | 23 |
| From 17 to 31 July | Floods | China | 17.6 |
| 14 November | Floods | Canada | 7.5 |
| From 5 to 8 April | Cold spell | France | 5.6 |
| From 25 to 29 May | Cyclone Yaas | India Bangladesh | 3 |
| From 10 to 24 Mars | Floods | Australia | 2.1 |
| From 21 to 28 July | Typhoon In-fa | China Philippines Japan | 2 |
| From 14 to 19 May | Cyclone Tauktae | India Sri Lanka Maldives | 1.5 |
| Total | - | - | 170.3 |
This list does not include the series of tornadoes that hit five states in the central and southern United States on 12 December 2021, which are estimated to have caused more than 3 billion USD in insured losses.
